High-gear holidays

Galas, concerts, fundraisers and dinners fill this season’s calendar.

There's lots to do this holiday season with concerts, fundraisers, shopping opportunities, dinners, and galas in and around Bluffton. If your nonprofit or business is planning an event, be sure to post it on the calendar of events at www.blufftontoday.com

Food, wine, culture at Palmetto Bluff

Palmetto Bluff's Music To Your Mouth 2010, the "finest nibbles and nectars to ever tickle a tastebud," began Monday and will last through the weekend and will feature "guest chefs and vintners to the table to showcase their best savories and sweets, plates and pours, blends and bites."

Some events are sold out, but tickets to others will be available at www.musictoyourmouth.com until noon today. In 2009, Music to Your Mouth contributed $10,000 to Second Helpings, which helps to feed more than 250,000 local residents from Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton counties. This year, a portion of ticket sales will benefit Second Helpings.

A gift with purpose

Members of Programs for Exceptional People will sell pottery from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bluffton Farmer's Market in Old Town. Proceeds from the sales will benefit PEP, a nonprofit organization that empowers special needs adults in southern Beaufort County. The potters will continue to sell their wares Nov. 27 at the Mall at Shelter Cove.

Holy honey sweetens church bazaar

The Church of the Cross on Calhoun Street in Old Town Bluffton will host its annual Christmas Bazaar and Arts Festival from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 20. The event will include art works and crafts by local Bluffton artists, the Cross Christian Women crafters handmade items featuring May River angels and cloth dolls, unique wreaths, holy honey, jams and relishes, Christmas ornaments, the church cookbook, "Great Cooks Rise" and plenty of baked goods and candy.

To learn more, call 705-1090 or the church office at 757-2661.

Arts and crafts festival to benefit Boys & Girls Club

Hampton Lake will host its inaugural Arts and Crafts Festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday with proceeds benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Bluffton.

The event, which is open to the public, will feature artists and vendors offering hand crafted wares, candles, custom jewelry and a variety of artwork, including works in wood and stone, will be available for purchase. Cash is encouraged for this event. Nearly 20 vendors have signed up and the children of the Boys & Girls Club also made holiday crafts as part of the fundraising effort. The event will be held in the Lakeview Room, rain or shine.

Directions can be found on Hampton Lake's website at www.hamptonlake.com or by calling 836-LAKE.

Herb Society spices up holiday shopping

The Herb Society of Hilton Head Island will hold its fall sale from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Shelter Cove Mall center court.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND - St. Nick will be at Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina from noon to 3 p.m. Nov. 26 in preparation of the upcoming holiday season. Children can sit with Santa and have their picture taken. There will be live music by the Chilly Willy Band.

Town announces Weekend of Lights

The annual town Christmas tree lighting ceremony and announcement of the grand marshal for the Bluffton Christmas Parade will be at 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, outside Town Hall, Bridge and Pritchard streets.

The M.C. Riley Elementary School Chorus will sing holiday songs and Santa will make a special visit.

As always, the parade will follow on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Old Town. The parade will begins 11 a.m. at Town Hall. Organizers are asking participants to sign up as soon as by filling out a form on the town's website. Go to www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/christmasparade.htm and find the "participate in the parade" link. There is no entry fee.

New this year will be a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at Buckwalter Place, at Buckwalter and Bluffton parkways.

The Bluffton High School Choir will sing and Santa will be there, too. The event will be at the town-owned roundabout linking Buckwalter Place Boulevard and Innovation Drive near CareCore National.

Chimers ring in the season at the library Dec. 5

The Sun City Chimers will put on a holiday performance at 3 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Bluffton Branch Library in the large meeting room.

The concert is free and will feature tubular handbells. Light refreshments served. No registration is necessary. Call 255-6503 for more information.

Hilton Head musicians celebrate the holidays Dec. 10

Enjoy "The Sounds of Christmas" with the Hilton Head Choral Society chorus, soloists and orchestra at 8 p.m. Dec. 10 at First Presbyterian Church, 540 William Hilton Parkway. The concert will include traditional carols, yuletide favorites, Christmas sing-along's and an original musical fable about a Wiseman and his camel written by choral society Artistic Director Tim Reynolds. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at www.hiltonheadchoralsociety.org or at various outlets, including Burke's Pharmacy on Main Street, Pretty Papers in the Village at Wexford, Christie's Hallmark stores at Belfair Towne Village, Markel's Card & Gift Shop in Bluffton and at the Barnes & Nobles Center in Indigo Run, as well as at the door. Go to the website or call 341-3818.

December's Southern Living magazine mentions the gala as an event to attend this season in the Beaufort area.

The gala will be held at the Beaufort Inn, 809 Port Republic St., located in the middle of the downtown historic district. Starting at 6 p.m., guests will follow a candle-lit pathway of red lanterns to the inn's courtyard and tabby gardens as they enjoy hors d'oeuvres by Southern Graces Catering, followed by food stations presenting roasted artichoke dip, prime rib crostini, fig and goat cheese flatbread and Riesling shrimp atop roasted corn cakes.

There will be a live and silent auction and music will be provided by Buddy Kosic and the Lowcountry Jazz Band. Later in the evening, a cigar roller and scotch/brandy bar will be available under the white lights of the courtyard.

Joseph Mix is honorary chairman of the event. Mix is known as being the "founding father" of the local Boys & Girls Club movement. He was the principal fundraiser and coalition builder for establishing the first club in Beaufort.

Tickets are $125 a person, $250 a couple.

For more information, please contact Liz Vallino at 575-5430. The gala will benefit the Beaufort area clubs.

Burton choir sings for Christmas Dec. 11

The Fellowship Concert Choir of Beaufort will present its annual Christmas concert in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The concert will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Second Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 236 Joe Frazier Road, Burton. FCC will sing familiar Christmas spirituals with a new twist and some other surprises. The concert is free and open to the public. For additional information contact Scott Gibbs at 524-7230.

Tune in for 'The 1940s Radio Hour'

The May River Theatre Co., Inc. will present "The 1940s Radio Hour" in December. The show offers a live broadcast of "The Mutual Manhattan Variety Cavalcade" from the hotel Astor's Algonquin Room on Dec. 21, 1942. The spirit of the bygone era when the world was at war and pop music meant "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," is accurately captured as the harassed producer copes with a drunk lead singer, the delivery boy who wants a chance in front of the mike, the second banana who dreams of singing a ballad, and the trumpet playing sound effects man who chooses a fighter plane over Glenn Miller.

Reserved seating can be purchased from Monday to Dec. 17 by calling 815-5581. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

All tickets are $20.

Christmas Day dinner serves up community meal

The 8th annual Community Christmas Day dinner will continue this year at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront on Hilton Head Island. Dinner is served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Christmas Day and is open to everyone, residents and visitors alike.

Organizers of the event - which is expected to draw 1,000 guests - continue to fundraise in hopes of reaching its $5,000 goal. Nearly $2,000 has been collected so far, according to event co-chair Barb O'Connor. To help out, make checks payable to Christmas Day Dinner, P.O. Box 541, Bluffton, SC 29909.

Call Lois Willig at 705-5725 or 304-1086 to reserve a spot or to learn more.